An old curse attributed to Chinese lore is, “May You Live in Interesting Times.” The exact wording and provenance may be uncertain, but the meaning is clear no 
matter the derivation. For most of my life I knew I was living during a fairly interesting period of human history, but aside from the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War, I never thought of it as an apex of insanity or any more or less frightening than most eras. In fact when I would look at what the world must have been like in the early 1940s, I felt my time on earth paled within the “interesting” quotient.
Now the specter of personal entitlement and the irrational montage of xenophobia assaulting readers of the daily news has me reconsidering the present nature of “interesting times.” Most of us see it; the rise of rightwing, anti-intellectual rhetoric sweeping across much of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and through our own backyard, stripping away any semblance of civility as it bludgeons those who cry out against it.
So I look to others to help me understand this plummet towards chaos. In a New York Times Op-Ed piece from a few years ago, David Brooks referred to a downward spiral into antipolitics:
Over the past generation we have seen the rise of a group of people who are against politics. These groups — best exemplified by the Tea Party …..— want to elect people who have no political experience. They want “outsiders.” They delegitimize compromise and deal-making. They’re willing to trample the customs and rules that give legitimacy to legislative decision-making if it helps them gain power.
Ultimately, they don’t recognize other people. They suffer from a form of political narcissism, in which they don’t accept the legitimacy of other interests and opinions. They don’t recognize restraints. They want total victories for themselves and their doctrine.
This antipolitics tendency has had a wretched effect on our democracy. It has led to a series of overlapping downward spirals:
The antipolitics people elect legislators who have no political skills or experience. That incompetence leads to dysfunctional government, which leads to more disgust with government, which leads to a demand for even more outsiders.
Mr. Brooks has made an astute observation. Unfortunately he has not offered a solution. And aside from going door to door in an attempt to persuade the irrational to reconsider what they say and analyze what is truly best for this country; socially, economically, environmentally, and militarily, there does not seem to be a solution. So perhaps, instead, we need to embrace Mr. Trump.
It is said that an alcoholic cannot own up to his or her problem until they have hit rock bottom. The political rock at the bottom couldn’t be much lower or harder than living (or attempting to live) through a second Trump presidency. Vilified and mocked by most of the rest of the world, we might well lose 250 years’ worth of built-up respect (aside from the “W” glitch). Being “down so long it looks like up from here” may be our only solution; a cold slap in the face.
Just to be clear, this essay is by no means an endorsement, but a pondering of how we might move past this inane and “interesting time” to arrive at a point where we are able to build an inclusive and functional government.
To go a step further and immerse myself in complete pessimism, the present state of our political system may just be another chapter in the continuing demise of a once great nation. Perhaps the great experiment of rule by all of the people through a democratic process was too early. Our species may not be far enough along the evolutionary trail for the voice of the many to legislate by vote. Hitler was elected, as was Mussolini, Putin, Berlusconi and so many other crackpot leaders, were placed into their position by the choice of the people, so Mr. Trump, as the bellwether of doom in America, is not unprecedented.
[I also believe that it’s very important to note that Mr. Trump himself is not the issue. And as much I dislike him personally, he is only a symptom of the deeper and much more complex problems we are facing as a species. Several of my future offerings will be looking at the root causes that give rise to any authoritarian figure. The more we understand about this disease, the more we have the potential of treating it.]
Looking for any light in a potentially dismal future, I would guess that one alternative would be to mandate an educated electorate, where logic, decorum, civility and integrity are the criteria for a voting card. Unfortunately, that scenario is highly unlikely, for, aside from the Constitutional issues, an anti-intellectual acceptance of ignorance has permeated American society to a point where it is now next to impossible to turn the ship. The myriad nonsense of open carry guns, religious mandates, fear of all things foreign, personal and corporate entitlement, and on and on, are kept on the forefront of importance every day by talking heads who never come to any conclusions themselves except to say they know more than anyone else. The rabble is roused by sound bites from Fox News as testosterone driven patriotism obliterates any discussion of the most important issues; i.e. global climate change, education, militant extremists, healthcare, campaign finance reform, poverty, hunger, the destruction of our democracy, and economic inequity.
The true irony in all of this is that many of the right leaning politicians who shout about upholding the Constitution are the ones shredding the intent of that great document and undermining the very tenets and safeguards incorporated into it by the men who founded this country.
We have entered an era where we appear to be in Dante’s Inferno and where our only escape may be through the fires of Hell.
I keep imagining a being in the future that discovers our planet, burned up and wobbling in an erratic orbit. The being explores and finds evidence that the inhabitants of the planet were in possession of all the scientific principles and the values that living in community requires. The being from elsewhere wonders how it came to be that those inhabitants perished when they could have saved themselves. What made them reject the information and plunge themselves into oblivion?
Maybe Hell IS the only positive possibility.
Verna, Thank you for your comment and for the great visuals of imagining that future visitor. What all of this comes down to is that it’s just astoundingly sad. My sense is that most humans are driven by emotions, which, for the most part, have little to do with logic or rational thinking. Even when it becomes that the old cartoon character, Pogo (via Walt Kelly), was so forward thinking to state, “We have met the Enemy and he is us!”
I’m hoping in my lifetime to see our country turn around and be the more perfect union we could be. But it does look very dismal right now. And I’m not a young person. But I will resist and call out with other voices this dangerous path.
Thank you, Tobin.
Hi Georgia,
Thank you for commenting. Speaking out and making our voices heard without fear is our best weapon against those who would like to turn our country into a fascist state. Perhaps it’s easier for an older person to place themselves in the line of fire because we have less to loose. I know that I would be thrilled to be on Trump’s enemies list. To me that would be a badge of honor.
A concise summation of America’s social condition that I agree with. The “interesting times” metaphor is a phrase that conveys ironic intent. The twist of irony is suggestive of Nietzsche’s penetrating analysis of human nature. Irony is the only point of view that serves to preserve one’s sanity, a grip upon one’s agency in the shameless expressions of cruelty and ignorance articulated by elected politicians, and their un-elected deputies.
Plato was no fan of democracy. He advocated an educated aristocracy over a distribution of power among citizens. Plato witnessed Athenian democracy devolve into mob-rule during the war with Sparta. Plato witnessed the condemnation of Socrates to death by his countrymen.
The future is wide open, – even if we can forecast the outlines of what is to come, given the course we are on.
To conclude my response Tobin, I’d like to offer a few lines from Helter Skelter written by the Beatles. Are societies and nations are as temporary (time bound) as is every thing else around us? Every single thing has to run its course. Strangely I am comforted knowing that Putin, Trump and their disciples have expiration dates…
When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again
Yeah yeah yeah hey
Do you, don’t you want me to love you
I’m coming down fast but I’m miles above you
Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
Well you may be a lover but you ain’t no dancer
Jerry, – Thank you so much for your addition to this post. Plato’s concept of an intellectual elite being allowed to rule in place of a wider general population is both appealing and frightening. Several well-known members of the talking head political punditry have stated that the roots of democracy’s demise are planted with its first inception. In other words, democracy is a wonderful and grand vision that humanity is not yet ready to embrace in a functional manner. And if our species survives, I’m still uncertain that we would ever be able to come to grips with the various disparate interpretations of “fact” or “truth”.
I think Democracy can work when scaled to a small country or community. Democracy and empire is a contradiction.
What we Americans will never overcome is our historical distrust of government. Now a good number of us despise our government as it stood before Trump.
Yes, each of us interprets sense experience a bit different. However if and when a culture is common then what passes muster as fact can be agreed upon.
I have tried to tell myself that my grandparents and parents faced issues that shifted the ground beneath their feet. I try to tell myself that two world wars, a depression, the civil rights movement, and the sexual revolution must have put them in the same state of mind, and even for some, fear.
But this feels different.
This feels so much worse.
This isn’t ground shifting, its a chasm opening up.
Hi Barbara, – Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s really impossible for any of us who didn’t live through the two world wars or the depression to really understand what that may have been like. The difference is (at least to me) that we are facing an existential crisis with regard to the climate and we have people in charge who either don’t care, or who see a way to make a profit from the natural disasters we’re facing. At some time in the near future we’ll reach a tipping point and who knows whether or not we’ll be able to set things straight. That’s what keeps me up.